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HOW DID YOU GET INTO PHARMACY ?

I wanna know if I need a diploma to get into it ? Will it be beneficial for my education and my future ?

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Niko’s Answer

Hello Mayann, it depends on what you are looking to do within pharmacy as it is a large field in the healthcare setting. The two most obvious choices would usually be becoming a Pharmacist or a Pharmacy Technician (which is what I decided to do with my time as I am studying to become a doctor). Assuming that you want to become a Pharmacist, you would need to complete a doctoral degree in Pharmacy (PharmD) which is similar to going into medical school. It is a lot of information and schooling, but it will give you a high paying job in the future and greater chance of living a comfortable life style. My pharmacist that recently graduated makes about triple the amount that I do (think $60-65 hour salary to begin with). However, if you do not want to become a pharmacist and just find the field interesting and have other plans with life, becoming a pharmacy technician is typically really easy. Depending on what state you are in, there are different laws and regulations that determine how easy it is to become a technician. In Georgia, all you need is a license and clear background check to become a technician. In other states, they require you to become nationally certified which means you have more responsibilities and have to know more knowledge about medications in order to be competent at your job (though you will not have to know anywhere near the amount of knowledge that a pharmacist needs to know). If you want to be a pharmacist, I would still highly recommend becoming a tech! It will give you the opportunity to shadow a pharmacist and learn a lot more about medications and familiarize yourself with them before it is time to go to pharmacy school. If you have any questions, please let me know, as I can provide you with many resources that would help benefit your journey into the pharmacy.
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Ekaterina’s Answer

The answer depends on which role in pharmacy practice you are thinking of.
Pharmacists are trained much like doctors. Currently, the minimal requirement is at least two years of prerequisite classes plus 4 years of pharmacy school (so 6 years total). If your plan is to go into retail practice, little else is needed at this time. If you're thinking more along the lines of specialty pharmacy (hospital, radiation, research, etc) - a residency may be required. It does look like things are slowly shifting towards pharmacy becoming a "four undergrad + four grad years" type of a profession at minimum, kind of like medical school, but to my knowledge, it hasn't gotten to that point as of yet.
If you are in fact asking about pharmacy technician position prospects, however, most states will allow you to START within the profession with little more than a GED or high school diploma (little more being some basic math ability plus desire/capacity to learn new terminology). Some states DO require subsequent certification (IL does, WI doesn't, other states are Google-able... or there is national Pharm Tech certification program as well).
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Nick’s Answer

You will need a high school diploma, a four year undergraduate degree ( with some exceptions), a PharmD degree, and preferably a residency. You will always have a high paying job, earn respect amongst peers, and live comfortably.
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Dinah’s Answer

To start as pharmacy technician, some states don't require you to have a high school diploma, but if you are planning to get into an undergraduate program, you will need a high school diploma or GED. You don't need a bachelor's degree, if the pharmacy school you apply to will allow you to do a two year pre-req and then have a spot for actual pharmacy school. Once you finish pharmacy school with a PharmD degree, a residency or fellowship would be a good idea if you want to go that route. So it is very beneficial to earn a degree.
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